МҰНАЙШЫ
Тамыз 2008
5
What is Kazakhstan’s role in China’s energy
balance, and in your opinion, how will
things develop in the future in this respect?
Kazakhstan and China have been
developing successful business cooperation
in the past few years on the basis of strategic
partnership between the two countries.
Kazakhstan plays an increasing role in
China’s energy cooperation. But there is
still opportunity for growth. I would like to
provide you with some statistics. The actual
crude oil consumption in China amounted to
345.9 mln tons in Y2007, but only 5.33 mln
tons was imported from Kazakhstan which
is 1.54%. It is expected that crude oil export
from Kazakhstan to China will further
increase with the completion of the second
phase of Kazakhstan-China Pipeline.
How do you evaluate CNPC’s current
position in Kazakhstan’s oil and gas
market? Are there plans to expand the
company’s activities?
For more than ten years of business
development in Kazakhstan, CNPC has been
actively involved in all kinds of petroleum
operations in the country, including
geological exploration, production, refining,
transportation, and marketing. The company
has also become one of the leaders in the
region in terms of investment and contributions
to the economy and social infrastructure.
Good business expansion opportunities
are always attractive to investors. As
a responsible corporate citizen, CNPC
always takes serious consideration of
social responsibilities in decision making
to expand its activities. Therefore, CNPC
will take every opportunity to expand the
company’s activities for the best interests of
the company and the economic development
of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
At present Kazakhstan’s re gulatory bodies
pay a lot of attention to the ecological issues,
in particular, prohibiting gas flaring. As you
know, almost all volumes of gas were flared in
Kumkol before CNPC’s arrival. How did you
manage to resolve the issue?
Protection of the environment is a top
priority for CNPC in conducting petroleum
operations both in China and internationally.
That explains the company’s guiding
principle: “Providing Energy and Creating
Harmony”. Therefore, CNPC has been
taking the issue of gas flaring seriously
since the company started its operations in
Kazakhstan.
After the acquisition of PetroKazakhstan’
assets in October 2005, the company spent
more than $150 mln on gas utilization
projects and dismantled 112 out of 131
(by the end of Y2008 expected all 131) of
the small flares in single well facilities in
Kumkol group of oilfields. PKKR is now re-
injecting gas into the gas cap in Kumkol
and KAM fields which helps increase oil
recovery and improves the environment.
Besides, the associated gas produced in
South Kumkol field, is being utilized for
power generation in a gas turbine power
plant.
Please tell us how the Kumkol group of
oilfields will be developed in the future.
The Kumkol oilfield will remain
central to, and play an important role in
our oil and gas development operations
in the South Turgai Basin. Although the
field itself is maturing, the supporting
infrastructure, we have created, including
oil storage, power generation, water
treatment and living accommodations,
provides a reliable supporting base of
operations for the continued exploration,
appraisal and development of more
remote assets.
The Kumkol oilfield has a great diversity
of petroleum operations and will continue
to be a tremendously important location
to provide technical and practical training
for our young specialists. Surrounding the
Kumkol oilfield itself is a vast expanse of
land, under which two new oilfields have
been discovered in the past 7 years, within
just a few kilometers of the main Kumkol
pool. These new fields will be developed. In
part they will use the common infrastructure,
available in Kumkol, and help to provide
growth of our operations, and sustainable
development of the entire PetroKazakhstan’s
upstream business.
The Kumol oilfield has also been recently
selected to perform another important role
as a major hub and pump station along
the Atasu-Alashankou oil pipeline. This is
another important aspect of the multiple
roles the Kumkol field will play in the future.
Shymkent refinery represents an important
asset for you in Kazakhstan. What are your
plans with regard to this refinery?
Shymkent refinery, built in 1985, has the
annual production capacity of 5.25 mln tons.
In 2007, Shymkent refinery (PetroKazakhstan
Oil Products LLP) produced 4.06 mln tons
of oil, comparing to 4.04 mln tons of oil in
2006.
We continued our work on the re-
equipment of oil tanks including removing
oil sludge and rendering overhaul and
reconstruction of an oil tank 304/4 with a
capacity of 20 000 tons. Obsolete equipment
of two transforming stations was replaced,
which is essential for continuous operation
of these stations. The company’s overall
investment into the modernization amounted
to $19 mln.
Maximum of petroleum release with high
octane rating of more than 50% was achieved
from the total petroleum percentage, and the
light oil products’ ratio to the value of the
refined oil made about 62%.
In 2008 the planned modernization
will allow to achieve the production
increase in light oil products, improve
the quality of refined products to Euro-3
standards, increase range of petrochemicals
polypropylene products, benzyl and
elementary sulfur, and reduce harmful
discharges by the refinery.
●
KazaKhstan’s role in energy sector
of china is increasing
Mr. Bo Qiliang, President of PetroKazakhstan, answers the questions
of the Munaishy magazine.